A16z-Backed Linera Blockchain Raises Further $6 Million

On August 16, Linera, a highly scalable layer-1 blockchain project, announced the completion of a $6 million raise, led by Borderless Capital, which included well-known investors such as a16z, ArkStream Capital, Tribe, GSR, and MH Ventures. The close of this funding brings Linera’s total seed funding up to $12 million.

Linera’s first round was raised in 2022 and was led by a16z Crypto, who also participated in this most recent round, with a follow-on investment.

Theis new capital injection will enable Linera to:

• Expand its core team.
• Launch Linera’s devnet and testnet.
• Grow Linera’s strategic presence in the APAC region.

What is Linera?

Linera began in 2021 and its founder, Mathieu Baudet, not only holds a PhD in Security Protocols, but also gained experience as an infrastructure engineer at Meta. Baudet was a researcher for Meta’s shuttered Libra/Novi blockchain initiatives and worked on a protocol called FastPay, which served as the basis for what Linera has become. 

Linera is itself a layer-1 blockchain network designed to scale horizontally using a technology they have developed called ‘Microchains’. According to the team, microchains are “lightweight chains that operate parallel within a common set of validators. The Linera system scales by adding chains, not by increasing the size or the production rate of blocks”.

Announced in tandem with the investment round, comes the launch of Linera’s SDK, now available for testing. Developers should now be able to both prototype and locally test applications to be hosted on the Linera blockchain.